GE lays out productivity agenda

This is a Sept. 15, 2011 file photo of two General Electric Evolution Series locomotives in the paint shop in Building 26 at GE Transportation in Lawrence Park Township. CHRISTOPHER MILLETTE/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

ERIE, Pa. -- Unpaid lunch breaks, a ban on cell phone use, stricter work rules, more cross-training and lower wages are all among GE Transportation's ideas for boosting productivity at its Lawrence Park Township plant.

The plant's productivity is front and center as the company and Local 506 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America continue the decision bargaining process.

That process, which is provided for under the union's contract with the company, is aimed at scaling down the company's plan, announced April 9, to eliminate 950 union jobs in Erie and move much of that work to Fort Worth, Texas.

Both GE Transportation and the union have been reluctant to speak directly about the bargaining process, but the union's positions are being articulated in bargaining updates that have been obtained by the Erie Times-News.

Those updates suggest one substantial step forward. A week ago, union officials complained in an update that the company had failed to lay out its position and had given the union little information about what it would take to rethink plans for dramatic cutbacks in Erie.

The union's updates seem to suggest that the company is looking at a wide range of changes to help boost productivity.

The union continues to maintain the company has made no solid proposals, but it also acknowledged that bargainers for GE discussed about 15 work practices that could lead to significant improvements in productivity.

The overall goal, as reportedly described by one GE bargainer, was to establish "a new factory" in Erie.

It's not clear if that was meant to indicate a new physical plant or simply a different way of building locomotives and mining equipment.

The union said GE Transportation talked about "changes in break times and lunch times, a new and stricter attendance policy, a new and stricter set of work rules, a site-wide ban on cell phone usage in production areas, and greater flexibility with new job classifications, cross-training and temporary assignments."

The company also claims most employees take a 20-minute on-the-clock lunch break in addition to two paid 10-minute breaks, according to the union's report to its members.

The union's update includes no rejection -- or acceptance -- of much of the company's blueprint for improving productivity.

There is one clear exception to that generalization.

A week earlier, the union said in its update that the company was asking the union to examine wages at the Erie County plant, referred to by one bargainer as "the monster in the room."

The union apparently has no interest in waking that monster.

Its update said simply, "Union bargainers once again warned that we will not propose any wage freezes, cuts or reductions."

Because of early delays in what is proscribed to be a 60-day bargaining process, decision bargaining has been extended through June 22.

Jennifer Erickson, a spokeswoman for GE Transportation, has said the company could not respond directly to specifics of the process.

"GE Transportation takes this process seriously and we are open to considering any proposal from the UE that would provide a viable way to increase the plant's productivity and competitiveness moving forward," she said. "Erie remains critical to GE Transportation, and we hope to come to a resolution that is good for Erie, our employees and our overall business.